NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Agri Beef to buy Easterday tractors, other equipment
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
YAKIMA — Agri Beef
Co. has offered $1 million
for trucks, tractors and other
rolling stock at a former
Easterday feedlot, as Cody
Easterday and his family’s
bankrupt companies begin
to sell hundreds of pieces
of equipment at more than a
half dozen locations.
Easterday Ranches has
filed a motion asking bank-
ruptcy Judge Whitman Holt
in Yakima to approve the
sale unless someone comes
in with a better offer at a
hearing Aug. 10.
Agri Beef’s offer exceeds
the appraised value of the
equipment by more than
$250,000.
The Boise-based
company, doing business
as AB Livestock, bought
t he Fr a n k l i n C ou nt y
cat tle-feeding facilit y,
known as North Lot, for
$16 million in January, but
leased it back to Easterday
to operate.
E a s t e r d ay R a n ch e s
filed for bankruptcy in
February. Cody Easterday
pleaded guilty in March to
defrauding Tyson Foods and
another company of $244
million. The last day East-
erday had cattle on the lot
was mid-June, according to
court records.
East Oregonian, File
The former Lost Valley Farm outside Boardman. Cody Easterday’s name remains on the permit for the confined animal feed-
ing operation at site, while his family’s bankrupt companies sell off hundred of pieces of equipment.
Easterday owes Agri Beef
$99,389 for unpaid rent, a
sum that will be subtracted
from the $1 million sale,
according to court records.
A cou r t-approved
a p p r a i s e r, Hy p e r a m s
LCC, valued 32 pieces of
equipment at North Lot at
$771,900. The firm estimated
selling the equipment could
net $645,500 after marketing
expenses.
Hy perams also will
appraise equipment at other
Easterday properties.
Cody Easterday billed
Tyson and the other company
for buying and feeding cattle
that didn’t exist, according
to prosecutors. Easterday
used much of the money to
cover losses in cattle futures
contracts.
In a plea deal, Easterday
agreed to pay restitution,
including $233 million to
Tyson. He is scheduled to
be sentenced Oct. 5 in U.S.
District Court for Eastern
Forecast for Pendleton Area
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TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Plenty of sunshine
Plenty of sunshine
Clouds and sun
Sun and clouds
Mostly sunny
95° 63°
98° 64°
98° 63°
102° 67°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
93° 70°
93° 65°
92° 68°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
97° 69°
96° 66°
97° 75°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
75/56
88/55
96/65
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
95/68
Lewiston
87/58
98/67
Astoria
72/56
Pullman
Yakima 94/63
86/54
96/66
Portland
Hermiston
92/62
The Dalles 98/63
Salem
Corvallis
91/58
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
93/60
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
96/58
96/58
96/59
Ontario
101/66
Caldwell
Burns
88°
59°
95°
60°
108° (1959) 41° (1934)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
92/59
0.00"
Trace
0.09"
1.93"
1.66"
5.11"
WINDS (in mph)
95/60
96/55
0.00"
Trace
0.28"
4.34"
8.63"
8.23"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 90/57
95/59
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
95/63
100/67
87°
53°
92°
60°
111° (1928) 41° (1924)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
83/56
Aberdeen
91/64
95/68
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
82/58
Today
Medford
103/67
Sun.
E 3-6
NW 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
WSW 4-8
WNW 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
97/55
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:30 a.m.
8:33 p.m.
9:35 p.m.
5:47 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
July 31
Aug 8
Aug 15
Aug 22
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 107° in Blythe, Calif. Low 34° in Meacham, Ore.
Washington on one count
of wire fraud. He also faces
civil charges filed by the
Commodity Futures Trad-
ing Commission.
On Wednesday, July 21,
Judge Holt signed an order
approving the sale of several
Easterday farms in Benton
County to Farmland Reserve
Inc. for $209 million. The
order affirmed an agreement
that Easterday company
lawyers reached July 14 with
two large creditors, remov-
ing objections that threat-
ened to delay the transaction.
Farmland Reserve, owned
by the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, does
business in Washington as
AgriNorthwest. It will buy
from the Easterdays the Cox
Farm, River Farm, Nine
Canyon Farm, Goose Gap
Farm, Farm Manager House
and a storage complex.
The acquisition will add
18,000 acres, including
12,000 irrigated acres, to
AgriNorthwest’s land hold-
ings in the Columbia Basin.
The Easterday company
will lease the farms from
AgriNorthwest to harvest
wheat and sell equipment by
Oct. 31, according to court
records.
Proceeds from selling the
farms and equipment have
yet to be allocated among
creditors and Easterday
family members.
The Easterday compa-
nies listed $142.2 million in
liabilities in a court filing in
April. The liabilities do not
include potential restitu-
tion to Tyson and the other
company.
Cody Easterday’s name
still is listed as the operator
of Easterday Farms Dairy
on its confined animal feed-
ing operation, or CAFO,
permit, for the former Lost
Valley Farm near Boardman.
The CAFO was previously
submitted to the Oregon
Department of Agriculture
and Department of Environ-
mental Quality.
Cody Easterday’s son,
Cole Easterday, has since
taken over as manager of
Easterday Farms Dairy LLC
after purchasing his father’s
interest in the business. But
according to Oregon state
law, the name listed on the
CAFO application must be
the owner or operator of
the facility.
Invasive tree of heaven more
like a tree of hell for some
By MIA RYDER-MARKS
Capital Press
PENDLETON — In the
late 1700s, the tree of heaven
plant was introduced to the
U.S. by horticulturists who
sought it out as a unique orna-
mental tree.
While the tree may be
handsome and provide shade
in the summer heat, it also is
highly invasive in urban, agri-
cultural and forested regions
and can create environmen-
tal impacts by blocking out
other plants, according to
the Oregon Department of
Agriculture Plant Pest Risk
Assessment.
“It’s an alley cat tree; it can
stand pollution, and drought.
It’s quite successful in all
kinds of environments,” said
Patrick Breen, an emeritus
appointment at Oregon State
University.
Though it can be found in
nearly every state, it is mainly
seen in Oregon and neighbor-
ing states, and in Connecti-
cut, Massachusetts and New
Hampshire, where it was
originally planted as a orna-
mental tree.
In Oregon, it is most
commonly found from Hood
River County to Umatilla
County near the Colum-
bia River and along fence
rows and in forest openings,
according to OSU.
A single tree of heaven,
otherwise known as Ailan-
thus altissima, has male and
female trees. Breen said the
female trees can produce up
to 300,000 seeds yearly that
are distributed by wind and
water.
“In other words, it’s a
seed producer and it can
throw those seeds 330 feet.
They’re fairly heavy seeds,
and they’re not small,” Breen
said.
The tree gets its name
from its height. It outgrows
native trees, dominating the
sunlight. It can grow as tall
as 80 feet but usually aver-
ages 25-50 feet tall, depend-
ing on the location, according
to ODA.
Tree of heaven can be
identified by its compound
leaves on which lots of quill-
shaped leaflets are attached.
The bark is smooth and
brownish-green. If the bark
is broken, it releases a foul
smell, almost like a soured
peanut butter odor.
Tree of heaven also can
prevent other vegetation
from growing around it by
releasing chemicals through
its roots.
The plants also also
primary hosts for the spot-
ted lanternfly, an invasive
insect that can kill other
trees, grapevines, apple
trees, hops vines and other
species by leaving a sticky
sap on their base and making
it more susceptible to other
plant diseases and insects.
The trees have impacts on
the timber industry as well.
They can outgrow native
trees in some regions, but
they are worthless as timber
because they have no struc-
tural or burn value.
As they have an extensive
root system and the ability
to resprout rapidly, the tree
of heaven is challenging to
control, said OSU.
Cutting or mowing them
is ineffective and can make
the situation worse as the tree
will respond to cutting by
sending up dozens of sprouts
and root suckers, further
spreading the plant.
Hand pulling young seed-
lings is possible when the soil
is moist, but the entire root
system must be removed.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
Sheriff’s office makes
drug warrant arrest
JOHN DAY — A woman with drug
warrants is out of jail after being arrested
Wednesday, July 21, because Ohio would not
extradite her.
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office
arrested Ailene Capaldo, 27, on outstand-
ing warrants out of Wayne County, Ohio, at
about 4 p.m. according to a press release from
Sheriff Todd McKinley.
“The warrants were drug manufacture-re-
lated, and Capaldo was to be considered
armed and dangerous,” McKinley said in
the release.
However, Capaldo was
released July 22 because
Ohio would not extradite,
Grant County Jail Sgt. Josh
Wolf said.
Capaldo, whose listed
address
is on Harper Creek
Capaldo
Road in Mount Vernon,
was located in response to
a parking complaint on the road, McKin-
ley said.
McKinley encouraged the public to report
suspicious activity.
— EO Media Group
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